Tears
by coldheart
Summary: After an arguement with Misty, something happens to Ash that nobody could ever imagine...[dark]
1. One

**Tears**  
  
by coldheart  
  
"I can't believe you led us to the WRONG TOWN!" Misty yelled angrily, throwing her arms up in the air. "How can SOMEONE BE SO STUPID?!! I CAN'T STAND YOU!!!"  
  
Ash crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at her, with his jaw clenched tight. He glanced at Brock for help, but the older boy raised one eyebrow and shook his head.  
  
"Ash, you really should have told us you were lost...."  
  
"Thanks Brock." Ash muttered sarcastically, before sighing.  
  
"I'm sorry, Misty" he mumbled softly, wanting to get everything over with.  
  
Misty's eyes widened in shock, as a smile started to form on her face. "What did you say?" She asked, obviously enjoying Ash's apology.  
  
"I'm sorry!" Ash yelled, turning away.  
  
"What did you-?" Misty started  
  
"Misty-" Brock started warningly. He knew how hard it was for Ash to apologize.  
  
Misty rolled her eyes and started walking towards the pokemon center.  
  
Brock started to follow her, when he saw that Ash was crying.  
  
"Ash....are you okay?" Brock whispered.  
  
Ash nodded then shook his head. "I don't know..." Ash finally sighed, trying to pull down his hat to hide his tears. "I'm fine." Ash finally stated resolutely.  
  
"Let's go..." Brock sighed, walking towards the pokemon center, followed by a dejected Ash.  
  
When they arrived, Misty was surprised to see that Ash was crying. "Brock-?" she started, wondering what was wrong.  
  
Brock stopped her with a slight motion of his head, as Ash plopped down on one of the couches.   
  
Brock and Misty went to the counter to sort out the rooms, while Ash waited. Pikachu hopped on the counter towards the Nurse Joy who happily took the pokemon in her arms.  
  
Ash slumped against the one of the soft couches in the waiting room, trying to phase out everything in the room.  
  
He barely noticed the couch slump down a little from the weight of someone sitting next to him.  
  
"Hello!" a deep voice said boisterously, causing Ash to look up. He was a little started by being brought back to reality.  
  
The man was tall, about two feet taller than Ash. He had red air and he looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties.  
  
"Hey...." Ash mumbled weakly, after recovering a little bit.  
  
"Does the Pikachu I just saw belong to you?" a man asked. "It looks very healthy."  
  
Ash smiled at the complement and nodded bashfully. "Thanks...."  
  
"I have a Pikachu too, maybe your pikachu could help it charge up." the man suggested. "Do you want to see it? It's right outside."  
  
"Sure!" Ash agreed, happy to find a way to get Misty out of his mind. "Oh, and my name's Ash!" he quickly added, remembering to introduce himself.  
  
"I'm...Jeff." the man stated casually, smiling broadly. He put a hand on Ash's back to lead him outside.  
  
Ash tensed up a little. The action made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn't want to say anything about it. He glanced over to Brock and Misty to see what they were doing, and smiled lightly when he saw Misty looking incensed while Brock was flirting with Nurse Joy.  
  
  
Jeff walked towards the back of the pokemon center at a fast pace that Ash could barely keep up with, but he glanced back at Ash every once in awhile.  
  
When they stopped walking, Ash looked around for a pikachu. He felt a sick feeling at the pit of his stomach, and he regretted not telling Misty and Brock where he was going.  
  
"I...gotta go back..." Ash whispered quietly. "I forgot-"  
  
In one lightning fast motion, Jeff clamped a hand over Ash's mouth.  
  
Ash's blood ran cold in fear when the man pulled him back. He tried to pull Jeff's hand away, but his arms were pinned behind his back.  
  
Ash tried to cry out for his friends, but his screams came out muffled, and he knew that his friends couldn't hear him from inside on the other side of the building.  
  
Jeff squeezed Ash's arms hard to deter him form yelling. "Quiet." he whispered in Ash's ear. His voice was quiet and deadly. "Didn't anyone tell you not to talk to strangers?"  
  
A tear rolled silently down Ash's cheek.   
  
He remembered all the rules that Brock had told him, never to leave without telling him or Misty, never talk to strangers, never allow himself to be alone with anyone else...  
  
Ash shuddered, when he realized that he had broken all these rules.   
  
He gasped softly when the man shoved him to the ground and slapped him across the face. Ash's eyes were wide as saucers. "What-what are you going to do to me?" Ash whispered softly.  
  
The man only smiled.


	2. Two

_A/N sorry, It's been awhile. I don't have much free time to write._

**Tears**

By coldheart

The police searched for several days and there was still no sign of Ash. Brock and Misty also contributed to the search, but as the days passed, they grew more frustrated that there seemed to be nothing they could do.

Misty was especially frustrated, and on the fourth day of searching, she started to cry uncontrollably, hyperventilating, but she still refused when Brock suggested that they take a break.

It wasn't until Mrs. Ketchum talked to her, that she finally agreed to a fifteen minute break.

The worst part about the "breaks" had to be the silence

They only talked when they were searching, and even then, communication was limited to the bare minimum.

What was there to say? The police were slowly pulling away their rescue efforts, and even though nobody said anything about it, Ash's chances of being alive were growing slimmer with every passing day.

That was what hung over everyone's minds. That was why silence was preferable to truth.

After the sixth day of searching had ended, and Misty and Brock were getting ready for bed, the phone rang.

The voice was excited, relieved and breathless at the same time. It was Mrs. Ketchum. "They found him….he's alive…" was all she said.

Mrs. Ketchum had called a cab to the hospital where Ash had been sent.

"Do….you think he's going to be okay?" Misty asked quietly, on the way there.

Mrs. Ketchum's face lost some of its relief and she regretted asking. Brock turned his face away, looking out the window wearily.

"He's alive." The boy said softly, as though telling himself that it was comfort enough. "I'm sure-"

He stopped himself. Guarantees were dangerous. They caused heartbreak. Something told him that Mrs. Ketchum knew more than she let on, but he didn't dare ask.

"I…Ash…" The words sounded sharp through the silence. Swallowing nervously, she continued again. They would find out anyways, and she preferred that they know before they saw her son.

"The reason….that Ash was gone…" Misty straitened up in her seat. She hadn't told Ash's mom about the argument yet, and the words seemed to fill her with dread. Did she find out? Something gnawed at her. If it wasn't for that, Ash wouldn't have separated from them.

One look at Misty's face, told Brock exactly what she was thinking. Concerned, he wrapped an arm around the young girl's shoulders. Mentally, he berated himself for not realizing sooner how guilty Misty was feeling.

Mrs. Ketchum didn't even notice the hug. She hated the way her voice sounded at the moment, as she struggled to find the right words.

"Someone…took Ash…Someone bad." Her stomach sunk. It made her feel sick and angry when she thought about what had happened. "He…was hurt badly…"

That was when the tears came. She hated herself for it. She had wanted to be strong, and now she was crumbling right in front of them.

Her last words came between sobs. "They…think he might have been raped."

Brock bit his lip, his fist tightening, and shaking, his arm squeezing Misty tighter, a little too tight.

The girl didn't even notice. Her mind seemed to be blank, as her arms shook. Rage and sorrow seemed to pour in at once, but she didn't really understand why. It just wasn't registering.

When they arrived at the counter, a Nurse Joy told them that they could only seem Ash one at a time. Nobody needed to say anything. It was unspoken that Mrs. Ketchum would go first. As the Nurse Joy left, Brock felt his throat tighten. If he hadn't been so busy flirting with Nurse Joy before….

He quickly squashed that mode of thought. Misty's guilt was enough. Blaming himself wouldn't change a thing.

That's what he told himself, although the feeling remained.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a quiet voice.

"….that to Ash…" he heart Misty mumble. "Why?"

Brock shifted nervously. Hard question. No answer.

"I told him 'I can't stand you.' It just keeps playing over and over in my head. He-usually stays with us in the pokemon center, but because I said that."

"Misty-"

"I made him cry. He tried to hide it, but I could see and because of that-"

"No. Misty." Brock told her sternly, gathering her up in his arms. "He…that monster…is the only one to blame. "

_He would have went for anybody_, Brock realized. _If Ash hadn't been there, and I had been watching him better…_

These thoughts seemed to pour in at once.

"Brock. Misty." Mrs. Ketchum, whispered. "He's still sleeping right now, but…you can see him."

Misty nodded over to Brock, her eyes affixed to the ground. "You go." She whispered.

Mrs. Ketchum and Brock shared a look, and they both knew that Misty simply wasn't ready to see Ash yet.

Brock gave a tiny nod and walked through the hallway, opening the door hesitantly.


	3. Three

_A/N: Yes. It's been awhile. Another short chapter. Just more proof that this fic still lives._****

Tears  
  
by coldheart

Ash was still asleep.

Brock nearly sighed in relief, but instantly felt guilty about it.

Closing his eyes, he reached for Ash's pale hand, fingernails caked with dirt and blood. He shuddered, trying to find words that would make everything better. He knew they could never come, but he could try, because that was what he _had_ to do to keep himself sane.

Ash's hand shook and Brock looked at his face, biting his lip when he saw the pain there.

"H-Hey…" Brock whispered, berating himself inwardly for not saying something else, _anything_ else.

Ash instantly wrenched his hand away, moving as far from Brock as possible, his eyes widened in terror.

Brock stood up, pushing the button at the top of Ash's bed frantically.

He opened and closed his mouth, his eyes meeting the other boy's eyes for a moment, before Ash turned his face away, burying it in his pillow, shuddering.

Brock's hand fell to his side.

"Ash…" his hand moved towards his friend's shoulder, but a loud gasping sob stopped him.

'I'm sorry' he mouthed, words catching themselves in his throat, soft hiccups masking the sobs that were pushing to get free.

Even when the doctor came in, coaxing gently out of the room, he continued to utter wordless apologies.

"He's awake."

Mrs. Ketchum nodded softly, looking slightly relieved, although the tension in her arms and shoulders remained the same.

Misty stood up from the chair, pacing.

Brock fidgeted uncomfortable, as though he didn't remember how to sit down. The tiles on the waiting room floor seemed to swirl around the fog in his mind.

"-is he..?"

"Huh?" he asked distractedly, absentmindedly becoming more aware of his surrounded of Mrs. Ketchum, Ash's moth-

"How….." the words were cautious, uncertain, the mother let her arms hand limp to her sides as she clenched and unclenched her fists slowly. "How…is he?"

"Fi-" The response was automatic, but it died on his lips and his legs seemed to crumple as he slumped down on a seat across from her.

"I….don't know."

"Did he say anything?"

The voice came from the corner. Misty leaned against the wall, her back facing Brock and Mrs. Ketchum.

The voice sounded brash, almost profane in its lack of hesitation.

"N-No…H-He…." And Brock wanted-_needed_ to say more. The firm way that Misty had cut through the silence demanded it.

Misty cut him off. "I gotta go…" Misty sighed in a way that suggested she didn't know exactly where she was going.

"Please-!" The words were quiet, but strong enough to turn Misty to the source. "Don't leave…"

The last two words were inaudible to Brock who was much closer, but somehow Misty knew and understood.

"Fine." She walked to the seat next to Mrs. Ketchum and sat down.

Misty sat with her elbows on her knees, and her face buried in her hands, but she did not cry.

Natalie ran a hand through her hair. She had seen this before, but it still didn't make anything easier. She closed her eyes, pushing back to anger that came from the thought that some sick bastard was still running free.

The doctor walked out of the hospital room, nodding softly to the officer to indicate that Ash was awake.

Natalie nodded back, and waited for a few seconds before walking into the room.

"Ash Ketchum…" she acknowledged quietly. "Can….I ask a few questions?"

The boy looked down, not answering.

Awkwardly, the policewoman pulled up a chair next to Ash's bed.

"I need your help, Ash. We can catch the person who did this and-"

"What are you doing-!" a sharp voice interrupted.

Natalie winced when she saw a young girl, a little older than Ash, standing at the doorway.

"Miss…"

"He….doesn't want to talk!" The girl cried, her voice trembling, the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes. "Just….leave him alone!"

The boy's eyes widened, his hands clutching his sheets tightly. "M-Misty." He gasped softly.

The girl paled considerably, as the boy turned away from her, shaking.

Natalie closed her eyes, trying to find a way out of the solution. She had to get the boy to talk somehow, but the girl's presence was going to make that impossible.

"Can you….tell me what happened?" she asked again, quietly.

The boy turned to the girl, before nodding hesitantly.

The girl bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes as she slowly backed away until she bumped into the door.

Ash looked down, his eyes seeming to beg Natalie to do something, anything to remedy the situation that she didn't understand.

Ash's reaction seemed to break something in the girl as she quickly pulled the door open, running out and slamming it behind her.

"I'm sorry, Misty." The boy said in a voice too quiet for Natalie to hear.

"Ash…"

"I…can't. Not….now."

Natalie nodded, confused, but still understanding in a way. "Do you mind….if I come back later?"

Ash didn't answer.


End file.
